Government attempting to restrict use of National Mall

The National Park Service (NPS) is undertaking an initiative similar to that launched to exclude protests from New York City's Great Lawn. It will be used to further restrict or ban protest on the Mall from current levels. This is a component of a nationwide campaign of corporate-sponsored organizations working in partnership with government entities that claim that protests, rallies and demonstrations harm grass or "green space" or "natural resources" and must therefore be restricted or banned or shunted off to designated protest pits.

Right now, you can email the National Park Service demanding that there be no restrictions on the right of the people to assemble. We have set up an easy to use mechanism that will allow your message to be sent to the National Parks Service by clicking this link. Click this link to read more.

Central Park Great Lawn Lawsuit
Results in Important Victory for Free Speech Rights

The Partnership for Civil Justice has announced today the filing in Court of a landmark settlement agreement with the City of New York that strikes down key provisions of controversial and unconstitutional regulations aimed at restricting access to the Great Lawn of Central Park. The National Council of Arab Americans (NCA) and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) are the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. 

The City must now establish a constitutionally valid permitting scheme for protests in Central Park and must undertake a feasibility study into the optimum and sustainable use of the Great Lawn and what efforts can be undertaken to maximize the availability of the lawn for large events including rallies and demonstrations.  Click this link to read more.

Sept. 15 arrestees win at trial

An important victory was won yesterday, January 3, in the case of 11 defendants who were arrested at the Sept. 15 March on the Capitol, which drew 100,000 anti-war protestors to Washington, DC.

Judge Henry Greene of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia dismissed all charges against the defendants, who were accused of crossing a police line. The government's case collapsed in the early stages of the trial during the the testimony of a witness from the Capitol Police. Click this link to read more.

Nationwide rallies demand freedom for the Jena 6
Protests timed to coincide with courtdates of four of the six

On Nov. 7, many hundreds of people around the country rallied to demand freedom for the Jena 6. The actions were organized in response to a national call for locally coordinated actions by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism).

The Jena 6 are six young African American students originally charged with second-degree attempted murder resulting from a schoolyard scuffle with a white racist classmate in December 2006. A growing movement to defend the Six has swept the United States. On Sept. 20, more than 50,000 people marched in the small town of Jena, La.

Four of the Jena 6—Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw—went back to court for pretrial hearings on Nov. 7. Charges for Purvis were reduced to second degree aggravated battery, still an outrageous allegation carrying the possibility of years in jail.

Another of the Six, Mychal Bell, is languishing in jail. A racist judge recently sent Bell back to jail for 18 months for alleged probation violations. Bell’s trial in the Jena 6 case is set to begin on Dec. 6. 

Protests happened on Nov. 7 in at least 12 cities and towns, including Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Seattle, New Haven, Conn., Boston, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Reno, Nev., Sioux Falls, S.D., California, Penn. and elsewhere. Click here for reports and photos from some of the actions.

Click to download the petition. 
Click to download an informational flyer on the Jena 6.
Click here to donate to the Jena 6 Defense Committee.
 

Oct. 27 Protests Throughout the United States
Coverage from Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle & more

The October 27 demonstrations represented another important step forward for the anti-war movement in the United States.

Over 100,000 people took to the streets in coordinated regional and local protests to demand an immediate end to the war in Iraq. The October 27 demonstrations took place just six weeks after the September 15 National March and Die-In in Washington, D.C. that was led by Iraq War Veterans and family members of soldiers and marines.

To read a brief summary from some of the events that took place yesterday, along with Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco television coverage, click here. (San Francisco march of 30,000 pictured here.)

Sept. 15: 100,000 March on Washington!
To read the report and AP story, click here
Read "Sept 15: A new movement is emerging"
Read a Reflection on the March from an Iraq War Veteran 

A proposal from ANSWER It is an absolute responsibility of the anti-war movement to make an honest and straightforward assessment of the current situation and to craft a strategy accordingly. On May 31, the ANSWER Coalition issued a proposal to organize a protest of 1 million anti-war protesters. Click here to read more.